Category: Scattered Thoughts Best of 2014

A MelanieM Review: Comfort and Joy Anthology by Joanna Chambers , Josh Lanyon , Harper Fox, and L.B. Gregg

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Comfort and Joy coverThe holidays are upon and so are the holiday story collections.  Comfort and Joy Anthology is brimming over with tales from Josh Lanyon, Joanna Chambers, L.B. Gregg, and Harper Fox.  Within the covers these authors bring tidings of joy, sorrow, humor, hope, and of course, comfort in extraordinary measure.

Readers must have been very good this year because never have our stockings been so full of marvelous collections of stories about Christmas and the holidays.  In my top 3 anthologies, resting easily is Comfort and Joy from four outstanding authors, each story with its own twist and tone to make it both heart wrenching as well as memorable.

What makes this anthology (as with all top three) so wonderful and heartwarming?  Depth for one thing, depth in emotion, characterization and tone.  Complexity in the plots and layering. Also poignancy, a little reflection and sadness that comes to all at this time of the year as well as the wish to be a better person, for yourself and for others.  These stories remind me more of Judy Garland singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and less Deck The Halls. Yes, the latter is lovely, lighthearted and whimsical but the truth in the meaning behind these holidays, our expectations and our memories go far deeper and that’s the feeling and dimension these stories bring.  They remind us that comfort is needed along with the joy, and that hope can follow on the heels of sadness and despair.

Rest and Be Thankful by Joanna Chambers:
Two stormy hearts find peace when feuding neighbors in the Scottish Highlands are trapped by a blizzard.

Things aren’t going well for Cam McMorrow since he moved to Inverbechie. His business is failing, his cottage is falling apart and following his very public argument with café owner Rob Armstrong, he’s become a social outcast.

Cam needs to get away from his troubles and when his sister buys him a ticket to the biggest Hogmanay party in Glasgow, he can’t leave Inverbechie quick enough. But when events conspire to strand him in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm, not only is he liable to miss the party, he’ll also have to ask his nemesis, Rob, for help.

The synopsis doesn’t do this beautiful short story justice. At its heart is Cam McMorrow, a man who is his own worst enemy.  It’s his wonderful childhood memories and his inherited cottage from his grandparents that moved Cam to return to Inverbechie to start up his tourist based Adventure business. But nothing has gone as expected.  The seasonal fluctuations and the accompanying loss of income has put everything he has worked so hard for at risk and the depression and anger he feels has resulted in some poor choices made with the local folk.  But even though we (and Cam) recognize his part in the bad situation he finds himself in, we can’t help but sympathize and love him.  And it’s not all his fault, there have been some exceedingly poor judgement calls on parts of the local townspeople as well.  Cam is in the depths of despair when we meet him.  It his journey out to something better, more hopeful that is the wealth of this story.  I hope Joanna Chambers will revisit this Cam, Rob, and Inverbechie.  All three deserve a bigger story and a true HEA.

Out by Harper Fox
Can a stranger unlock the courage and passion in a young man’s captive heart?

It’s Christmas at Edinburgh’s magnificent Barlinney Hotel, and chief housekeeper Cosmo Grant is in charge of the festivities. He’s already got his hands full when handsome Ren Vaudrey checks in.

It soon turns out that Ren is an undercover cop. Cosmo wants to help him, but unless he can do it within the Barlinney’s walls, Cosmo is stuck. A victim of crippling agoraphobia, he’s been a prisoner in this gilded cage for over a year. Cosmo gathers all his courage to do the right thing by Ren and Sam—and as a glittering Christmas Eve descends on the city, finds himself confronting his very darkest fears.

If anyone had told me that an outstanding Christmas story centered around a traumatized, agoraphobic young man living in an expensive, first class hotel, I might have scoffed…aloud.  Except that it’s Harper Fox telling the tale, bringing to life Cosmo Grant, a vulnerable, warm hearted and superbly efficient chief housekeeper at Edinburgh’s Barlinney Hotel.  It was Cosmo’s bad luck to be held hostage during a robbery gone bad and the trauma has left Cosmo extremely agoraphobic, unable to leave the Barlinney at any cost.  Within its gorgeous confines, Cosmo works, eats, lives…marginally, his fear keeping him inside where he is terrorized by the hotel’s toady of a manager.  Then in sweeps police inspector Ren Vaudrey undercover and Cosmo’s life starts to enlarge once more.  There is a mystery, crooks galore, and romance.

I love Harper Fox and everything her pen touches turns to gold and in this case, to red and green with a tang of pine and something floral that Cosmo has fixed for the lobby.  Could I tell Harper Fox wrote this story?  Why, yes I could.

Waiting for Winter by LB Gregg:

Some mistakes are worth repeating.

Luke always thought he and Winter were the perfect couple—until the day Winter announced he was taking a new job and they were uprooting and headed for Germany. No discussion. No debate. For the first time in his life, Winter miscalculated. Badly. Now Luke is trying his best to move on with his life, but Winter is back in town and he’s set on digging their relationship out of the deep freeze.

A wealth of assumptions and misunderstandings can derail even the most loving relationships as Luke and Winter find out.  Now its the holidays and a time for reconciliation and second chances.  I love how L.B. Gregg writes relationships!   They feel so real, that when something goes wrong between the people involved, the reader feels just as unsettled and sad as the couple. In Waiting for Winter, Gregg portrays the relationship that was like an artist uses negative space in a painting, its defined by what Luke and Winter no longer have, whether its the joys of their intertwined families, houses and experiences.  That Winter and their “coupleness” is missed is accentuated by the places and people Luke visits, all of whom knew them as a couple.  We pine for the loss of Winter and hope that this reunion will take.  I loved the ending, that was perfect.

Baby, It’s Cold by Josh Lanyon:
Or maybe it’s the flu. Breaking up is hard to do — especially around the holidays.

Talk about Kitchen Nightmares! TV Chef Rocky and Foodie blogger Jesse have been pals forever, so it should have been the most natural thing in the world to move their relationship to the next level. Instead, it turned out to be a disaster. But Christmas is the season of love, and someone’s cooking up a sweet surprise…

From sadness and comfort to happiness and celebration, it’s fitting that this anthology  end with heartfelt humor and joy which it does with Baby, It’s Cold by Josh Lanyon.  Two old friends, chef Rocky and food blogger Jesse have tried in the past to have a relationship but it didn’t work out.  Now Jesse figures a blizzard and a surprise dinner is just the way to find out if he and Rocky can salvage not only their friendship but perhaps try again for something more.    What could go wrong?

Considering it’s Josh Lanyon at the helm, just about everything, from misunderstandings, kitchen disasters, and a unexpected visitor, Rocky and Jesse have many obstacles in their path before they can move forward to a future together they both want.  I love the dialog and the past histories Lanyon has detailed for both main characters are as fascinating as they are.  There is always a certain tartness about a Josh Lanyon story, a little wryness to go with the sweet,   a little savory for balance and that keeps the characters and their situations feeling believable and human without being saccharine.  Yes, our history often dictates our present behavior, whether we want it to or not.  Lanyon gets that and folds it into his people and their relationships.  So that when the pop of the champagne cork sounds the arrival of a happy ending, we and Rocky and Jesse have earned it.    Just a wonderful tale,  I loved it.

Love holiday stories?  Are these authors on your automatic buy list?  No matter the reason, pick up this anthology and have yourself a merry little Christmas, or Chanukah, or whatever holiday you may celebrate.  These are stories to read no matter the season.  Comfort and Joy is on Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2014 List!  And now I will leave you with the incomparable Judy Garland singing Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas!

Cover Art by Johanna Ollila. Cover is nice if a little bland, a little too generic for my tastes.

Sales Links:  All Romance (ARe)             amazon             buy it here

Book Details:

ebook
Published December 6th 2014 by JustJoshin Publishing, Inc.
(first published December 5th 2014)
ISBN139781937909758
edition languageEnglish

Happy Winter Solstice and the Week Ahead in Reviews!

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Tyrrhenian Sea and Solstice Sky
Credit & Copyright: Danilo Pivato

 Happy Winter Solstice!

And Happy Summer Solstice Down Under!

Happy Winter Solstice to everyone living in the Northern Hemisphere!  Today (here in Maryland at 6:04pm EST) the Winter Solstice arrives.  It marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night.  And for many around the world it is a cause for celebrations ancient and new as well as a time of reflection on this the darkest of days.

The word solstice means “sun stands still.” On the year’s two solstices (winter and summer) the sun appears to halt in its  journey across the sky and change little in position during this time, thus looking as though its standing still.  And while the Winter Solstice heralds the beginning of Winter, it also celebrates the promise of the gradual return of the sun after a prolonged period of darkness.  Why?  Because after the Winter Solstice, we see the incremental increase in daylight each day following the Winter Solstice will bring.

The solstice occurs twice a year (around December 21nd and June 21st) when the sun is farthest from the tilting planet’s celestial equator.

For half of each year the North Pole is tilted toward the sun, and for half of the year the South Pole enjoys that privilege. This phenomenon creates our changing seasons, because the hemisphere facing the sun receives longer and more powerful exposure to sunlight.winter-solstice-longest-night

In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice always occurs on or about December 21 and marks the beginning of the winter season. As stated, it’s the shortest day of the year, featuring the least amount of daylight between sunrise and sunset.

But in the Southern Hemisphere, Down Under (hint, hint) this is the time of the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. From now on, as the northern days grow longer so do the southern days get shorter.  Why bring this up?  Because of a special event that starts here on January 1st and goes on all month long.  The big announcement will happen next week but for those of you wanting a sneak peak, check out the Menu up top for the words Down Under and get ahead of everyone else!

Meanwhile to all us Northern Hemisphere people, Happy Winter Solstice!  And to all Down Under, a Happy Summer Solstice!

Now to the upcoming week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words:

Monday, December 22, 2014:

  • Razor Wire by Lauren Gallagher Book Tour and Contest
  • A PaulB Review: The Alpha King by Vicktor Alexander
  • A Mika Review: My Mate Jack (A Heated Beat Story #1) by Garrett Leigh
  • A MelanieM Review: The Marine by John Simpson

Tuesday, December 23, 2014:

  • Shifting Gears by Tina Blenke Book Tour and Contest
  • My Mate Jack by Garrett Leigh Book Blast and contest
  • A Sammy Review: Corkscrewed by MJ OShea
  • A Mika Review: A Tangled Mind by Posy Roberts
  • A MelanieM Review: Comfort and Joy Anthology

Wednesday, December 24, 2014 (Christmas Eve):

  • A Mika Review: Hummingbird House by Kenzie Cade
  • A Sammy Review: Slave Eternal (In His Arena #1) by Nasia Maksima
  • Mika’s Best of 2014
  • Melanie’s Best of 2014
  • Scattered Thoughts Best December 2014 Covers

Thursday, December 25, 2014 (Merry Christmas):

  • Lone Wolf by Aleks Voinov and L.A. Witt, Riptide Book Tour and Contest
  • 12 Days of Christmas Homecoming blog tour for ZAMaxfield’s My Cowboy Homecoming
  • A Mika Review: Green the Whole Year ‘Round by Rowan McAllister
  • A Barb, the Zany Old Lady Review: Lone Wolf by Alexsandr Voinov

Friday, December 26, 2014:

  • Cover Reveal for Chris Scully ‘Nights Like These’
  • A Mika Review: Him for The Holidays by Jaxx Steele
  • A MelanieM Review: Deep Blues Goodbye (Altered States #1) by L.E. Harner, T.A. Webb
  • Sammy’s Best of List for 2014
  • A Likely Story Anthology Release Blog!

Saturday, December 27, 2014 (the return of YA Saturday):

  • An Aurora Review: Gods (Dreams of Fire and Gods, #3) by James Erich

I will leave you with a Winter Solstice Drink recipe to help fuel your celebrations!

Winter Solsticewinter-solstice-recipe

2 oz citrus vodka
½ oz fresh lemon juice
¼ oz pomegranate juice
1 oz simple syrup
Orange wedge
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 2 minutes
Add citrus vodka, lemon juice, pomegranate juice, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a short or highball glass with ice. Garnish with an orange wedge. Drink up and repeat!

 

 

A Special Treat! Journey Into the Past with Amy Lane and The Bells of Times Square (Book Tour and Contest)

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What a feast for readers we have today!  Amy Lane is here with a special blog post on “Dirty Tricks”, an essay about WWII, her grandmother, and special memories.  It all ties into the start of the book tour for one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best Novels of the Year, The Bells of Times Square by Amy Lane. 

I have linked our review above, but you won’t need that to want to pick this up.  Just listen to Amy Lane’s thoughts below, read the story blurb, and don’t forget to enter the contest !

The Bells of Times Square by Amy Lane
Publisher:  Riptide Publishing

Hi, and welcome to the blog tour for The Bells of Times Square!  This book is close to my heart– if you read the extra front and back matter in the story, you will see that I drew inspiration from my grandparents and their roles in WWII.  There was a lot of research involved here and also an unusual romance.  I hope you enjoy this stop on the tour, and don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter below for the giveaway of two ebooks from my backlist and a signed copy of The Bells of Times Square!  Feel free to comment, or to contact me at any of my links below–I’d love to hear from you!

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Blurb
Every New Year’s Eve since 1946, Nate Meyer has ventured alone to Times Square to listen for the ghostly church bells he and his long-lost wartime lover vowed to hear together. This year, however, his grandson Blaine is pushing Nate through the Manhattan streets, revealing his secrets to his silent, stroke-stricken grandfather.

When Blaine introduces his boyfriend to his beloved grandfather, he has no idea that Nate holds a similar secret. As they endure the chilly death of the old year, Nate is drawn back in memory to a much earlier time . . . and to Walter.

Long before, in a peace carefully crafted in the heart of wartime tumult, Nate and Walter forged a loving home in the midst of violence and chaos. But nothing in war is permanent, and now all Nate has is memories of a man his family never knew existed. And a hope that he’ll finally hear the church bells that will unite everybody—including the lovers who hid the best and most sacred parts of their hearts.

About Amy Lane

Amy Lane exists happily with her noisy family in a crumbling suburban crapmansion, and equally happily with the surprisingly demanding voices who live in her head.

She loves cats, movies, yarn, pretty colors, pretty men, shiny things, and Twu Wuv, and despises house cleaning, low fat granola bars, and vainglorious prickweenies.

She can be found at her computer, dodging housework, or simultaneously reading, watching television, and knitting, because she likes to freak people out by proving it can be done.

Connect with Amy:

Contest: Enter to win using  the Rafflecopter link below for the giveaway of a $10 Riptide Gift card and a signed copy of The Bells of Times Square!

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The Bells of Times Square Blog Tour-Stop 1

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Dirty Tricks By Amy Lane

My Grandma Olga’s work with the O.S.S. became declassified about a year before she passed away. Before that, we knew she worked in what she called “the office of dirty tricks” but she wasn’t able to tell us exactly what she did. After the declassification, well, her stories were pretty wild.

“So, we would radio ideas to the people in England, the and they would get message to the people in the POW camps to do play dirty tricks on the officers there. They would try to schedule it when there was action going down, so the officers would be taken unaware?”

“Yeah?” I asked, sort of dubious. I mean, I’d grown up on old TV. Hogan’s Heroes was my favorite. She’d already had me believing that the scene from The Godfather—the one where her father the restaurant owner paid off the crooked Irish cop with wine during prohibition—had actually happened to her. (She only succeeded because I’d never seen The Godfather. By the way, my aunts and uncle thought it was high hilarity that I took this story on face value.) Was I supposed to believe this too?

“It wasn’t as glamorous as it looked on TV,” she assured me soberly. “Nine out of ten of those boys we sent on missions, they didn’t come back.”

Wow. That wasn’t a statistic that got thrown around on Hogan’s Heroes. “Really?” I asked, humbled by that much courage.

“Oh no. But they got in line. They begged their contact for more ideas. I mean…” her voice faltered. “We felt bad, sending those boys to their deaths. But they wanted to do it. They wanted to fight. They were fighting for a righteous cause.”

“Yeah,” I said, because that much could not be doubted. “So, what’d you have them do?”

“Well, you know. Dirty tricks. They’d give food poisoning to the officers, and then, in the middle of the night, move all of the toilets six inches backwards. The portable ones.”

I held my hand to my mouth, horrified. “Oh my God!”

“Oh yes, that was a favorite!”

“What else did you do?”

“I think we had them dose the farm animals, so the roosters would stay up all night. It was silly, really, but they kept the officers up all night before a raid, so they were sluggish and sleepy the next morning. You know, disoriented.”

“Oh my God!” Because no sixth grader had ever planned a campaign better. “That’s brilliant!”

She’d nodded then, a frail little old woman with an impish smile. As she got older, and needed to be hospitalized frequently, it became harder and harder to spot her as I walked through the care home corridors. She was so tiny in bed. She didn’t seem that tiny in real life. In my mind.

“Oh it was,” she said, eager to share her secrets. Suddenly she became sober. “You know, when I was young—and really, until a couple of years ago, I was so excited about it. So proud. But in later years…” She looked unhappy. “I mean, it was easy to hate the Nazis, because they were the enemy. And because they were doing horrible things. But they were soldiers. Our soldiers did what we told them, and their soldiers did what they were told. I mean, in the end, they were their mother’s sons, same as ours, weren’t they?”

I’ve tried to explain this to people—this moment to people. They are as titillated as I was about her details of her time in the OSS, and sometimes, as dubious as I was about how much was true. But so far, I don’t know how many people hear that statement right there and think what I do:

It was this moment of realization that made my grandmother a great woman. She had no reason to think well of the Nazis. She had no reason to think of them as human beings. Part of the dirty tricks she played was to minister propaganda, the essence of dehumanizing people.

But she came to this conclusion on her own, after raising children, after watching her country become involved in unjust wars, after becoming more and more liberal in her political beliefs (which were pretty liberal to begin with) as her compassion became greater and greater, and not smaller and more miserly as sometimes happens as people age.

She was brave, smart, funny, resourceful and gutsy.

And she saw that the enemy too, was beloved of foreign mothers. I think that’s an incredible thing. I think that’s an incredible truth.

It’s a truth I’d lay down my life for, right there. It’s one of the things that makes me my grandmother’s granddaughter. It’s a reason to be proud.

 

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: The Bells of Times Square by Amy Lane

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

TheBellsOfTimesSquare_500x750What does it say about a story when I admit that I started to cry as I was reading the blurb? Knowing that my favorite “Queen of Angst” was likely to pull out all stops on this one, I went into it with a box of tissues in hand. And I was not disappointed. And yes, the tissues were needed. This story is a beautiful, poignant, heartwarming, heartbreaking, and bittersweet look at a romance that transcends time.

Nate Meyer, a nice, sweet, young Jewish man decides to enlist in the Air Force in World War II, in part because he knows he’s a disappointment to his father, a fact more evident after his brother passed away at a young age. His brother was the one who got all the pride and affection his father could give out, and Nate just feels that it’s time to get away from the stifling environment. The son of a clockworker, he’s surprised to find that his knowledge of cameras and photography are not only appreciated, but needed for the war effort. He’s promoted to Second Lieutenant and together with his pilot, assigned the role of taking photos of potential targets during night missions over France and Germany. On one such mission, he spots a suspicious series of smokestacks and they move in to get a closer look, but the flare he and his pilot use to light the area for the photos is seen by Messerschmitt pilots who give chase. Their plane crashes in a wooded area over Nazi-occupied France, and though the pilot is killed, Nate survives.

He’s rescued by Walter, a diminutive redhead from Iowa who is an escaped POW, and fortunately for Nate, a medic as well. Walter has been living in an abandoned cottage in the woods for several months. He’s resourceful and self-sufficient and the cutest little man Nate has ever had the pleasure of seeing. However, at this point in our history, it’s extremely dangerous to reveal any attraction to another man so Nate hides it until one day when Walter is bathing his extremities and “Little Nate” is too obvious for Walter to ignore.

They confess their mutual attraction and act out on it slowly, engaging mostly in kissing, handjobs, blowjobs, and frottage. Nate doesn’t consider himself deeply religious, nevertheless, he knows that committing the act of mishkav zakhar, “the one act between men that was considered unforgivable”, will guarantee that he won’t find his way to heaven. But when the time comes for them to prepare to leave their nest in the woods, they finally do have sex, and Nate forgets his worries about heaven. Though they don’t verbalize the words “I love you”, they do make the promise to meet at Times Square at midnight on New Year’s Eve after the war is over, with or without the church bells ringing. They know they’ll be separated as soon as they are rescued since Walter is an enlisted man and Nate is an officer, and they have no choice about leaving their cottage, because a Nazi soldier has been using it for a tryst with a local Frenchwoman and they’re fortunate they haven’t been discovered yet. What the Nazi doesn’t know is that the Frenchwoman is working with the resistance and plans to help the men escape.

Circumstances never go according to plan, however, and ….(spoilers) click for hidden paragraph that contains spoilers for the ending of the story.

I have chills right now as I write this review. Amy Lane is an excellent author, her grammar and punctuation are perfect, but what really makes her books stand out among the rest is her ability as a storyteller. I am in awe. This story should have more than 5 stars. Superb is a mild word. By all means, do not miss the chance to read this book. And if you love historical romances, consider it a bonus. I think I may go hide out for a while and reread this story right now. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe how amazing this outstanding story is. Don’t hesitate to buy it.

Cover Art by Reese Dante. At first sight, the cover appears to be a faded collection of random objects, however, it actually tells the story contained within the book. Representations of the plane, the photography equipment, the clock at Times Square are all present and the brown-white rotogravure effect is reminiscent of the early days of photography in the 20th century. Beautifully done.

Sales LInks:  Preorder at Riptide Publishing    amazon    buy it here

Book Details:

Author: Amy Lane
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62649-185-4
eBook release: Dec 15, 2014
eBook Formats: pdf, mobi, html, epub
Print ISBN: 978-1-62649-186-1
Print release: Dec 15, 2014
Word count: 65,300, Page count: 236
Type: Standalone

– See more at:

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review : Hell on Wheels (Bluewater Bay #3) by Z.A. Maxfield

Rating: 5 stars out of 5BWBlogo_Web

Hell On Wheels coverI am totally hooked on this Bluewater Bay series! Each book is better than the previous one, and that’s saying a lot, considering the amazing list of authors Riptide has engaged for this series. In this story, Spencer Kepler-Constantine comes to Bluewater Bay to renew his recurring role in the Wolf’s Landing television series being shot in the town. He arrives on the heels of the sensational breaking news that his husband of six months, Peter Kepler-Constantine, has impregnated a famous Hollywood actress and left him for her. To make matters worse, his rental Mercedes has broken down outside of town.

Nash Holly is out riding his Ducati, enjoying the speed and the feel of the breeze along the Washington coast when he comes upon the parked car. Aside from nearly crashing into it, he’s intrigued by what it’s doing there. Nash happens to be the manager of his dad’s auto repair shop, a shop that specializes in foreign cars so he decides to step up and offer assistance. One look at Spencer and he’s lost in those gorgeous gray eyes. Convincing Spencer that he’s not a maniac, Spencer invites him in out of the rain and while sitting together, waiting for the tow truck Spencer had called, the two find themselves immediately attracted. Nash decides to help the uptight guy relax with a quick handjob. Thinking no more of it, he takes off when the tow truck driver arrives.

To make a long story short, the attraction between the two men develops further, and during the time that Spencer is in town filming, it escalates. But it’s more than just sex for both of them, and despite the fact that Spencer is estranged from his husband, Nash and Spencer create a safe space for each other while the beginnings of a relationship form without them even trying.

During this same time, other events in Nash’s life seem destined to throw him into upheaval. First, he finds out his widowed father has been seeing someone, and it’s getting serious. Then, his sixteen-year-old sister, Shelby, who has been wheelchair-bound since she was three, decides that she wants to exert her independence by applying to the Students Abroad Program. It’s bad enough that his twin is away at college and Nash already feels the hole in his life, now Nash finds it harder to cope with the fact that both his father and his sister don’t seem to need him anymore, and taking care of them has been his primary purpose for years. How can a caretaker exist without someone to take care of?

When Peter pulls a spectacular stunt to get Spencer back during Spencer’s late night television interview, Nash happens to be watching. He’s disgusted by Peter’s grandstanding, but he also knows in his gut that Spencer is going to allow him back into his life. Just what Nash needed—one more hole to fill.

The author gives us a wonderful wrap-up to this story and provides Nash with a perfect HEA. But before we get there, we get to know a man with so much character, so much life, that I became immersed in his story and invested in his future happiness. I loved Spencer as well, but my emotional investment was with Nash. And somewhere around the 75% mark in the story, it occurred to me that the feelings I was having were the same feelings I experienced when I read “St. Nacho’s” for the first time. I was left with that same warm emotional attachment to the character as I was in that original story, one that I read nearly three years ago. I haven’t felt that with any of Ms. Maxfield’s other works since then, and I’m so happy to have found it again because she was one of the authors who originally hooked me on this genre.

I highly recommend this series to lovers of M/M romance. Each author is uniquely talented and brings a new perspective to the series. This one is perfect for those who enjoy a hero with a heart of gold. As Spencer put it when describing Nash’s role in his life: “You’re necessary because you make my heart lighter and my mind clearer and my work meaningful, as long as I get to come home to you at the end of the day.” Aww, what more could I ask for than that?

Buy this book. You won’t be sorry. Oh, and it’s not necessary to read the others in the series. Each can be read as a standalone, though you’d be missing out on a great series.

The very nice cover art by L.C. Chase depicts the two young men who are the MCs in the story.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing     All Romance (ARe)        amazon         Buy It Here

Book Details:

book, 225 pages
Published December 1st 2014 by Riptide Publishing (first published November 29th 2014)
original titleHell on Wheels (A Bluewater Bay Story)
ISBN139781626491724
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/hell-on-wheels
seriesBluewater Bay #3

 

Bluewater Bay Series-written by different authors:

Starstruck (Bluewater Bay #1) by L.A. Witt
There’s Something About Ari (Bluewater Bay #2) by L.B. Gregg
Hell on Wheels (Bluewater Bay #3) by Z.A. Maxfield
Lone Wolf (Bluewater Bay #4) by Aleksandr Voinov
The Burnt Toast B&B (Bluewater Bay #5) by Heidi Belleau

 

It’s “Hell On Wheels” when Z.A. Maxfield Goes To Bluewater Bay! (Book tour and contest)

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Z.A. Maxfield is here with Hell On Wheels, the latest Bluewater Bay story and one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Must Read Stories!BWBlogo_Web

Check it out below and don’t forget to enter the contests Z.A. Maxfield has for all of you to enter. Hell On Wheels coverWelcome, Z.A. Maxfield.

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Many, many thanks to Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for inviting me to be here today to share my latest book release, Hell On Wheels.

While I was writing this book, one of the things that struck me was how much I enjoy writing characters who don’t do what one expects them to do. I think this goes back to my love of the screwball comedies of the thirties, to actors and actresses like Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, William Powell and Myrna Loy.

The dialogue was snappy. The comebacks often sarcastic and witty, and there’s sophistication, even in films like Duck Soup, which has more physical humor than I normally care for. I wanted to be Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday. I wanted to be Barbara Stanwyck The Lady Eve.

Here’s my list of top five screwball comedies, the ones I found most memorable, and the ones that color my perception to this day. I’m not numbering them because ‘sniff” I love them all and I’d hate to pick a favorite.

• It Happened One Night – what is not to love about this. Between Clark Gable’s manly chin and Claudette Colbert’s legs, nothing can go wrong here. Add the road trip realities of hitchhiking with crazies and bad motels and toss in some of the best dialogue ever, and well. DO not miss out on a classic.
• The Thin Man – William Powell and Myrna Loy drink their way through a mystery. With a dog. Because Myrna Loy’s face when she says “Nicky, Darling.”
• His Girl Friday – Yes. Santa Clause. There really was Rosalind Russell. And she wasn’t just a pretty face. She’s funny and acerbic in this film, and held every bit of cinematic ground against handsome scene-stealer Cary Grant. And she wore a dumbass hat.
• Bringing Up Baby – Cary Grant again, with Katherine Hepburn this time, and a leopard named Baby. That’s right. I said a leopard. Comedy is serious business.
• My Man Godfrey – Special because its social message is timeless. Carole Lombard is simply radiant in this film and William Powell is handsome and sarcastic. These films set the gold standard of romantic and class comedy for the time in which they were filmed.

Many of these gems are available on Netflix. Check them out today!

My Blog Tour giveaway plan is as follows:

1. Comment here for the chance to win an ebook. My assistant William will randomly pick a winner for each blog I visit, and that person will win an ebook of their choice from my backlist.

2. For the Hell On Wheels Tour Rafflecopter giveaway, I will be awarding one lucky reader with a 25.00 gift certificate for Amazon. The giveaway will conclude at midnight on December 8th, at which time we’ll choose a winner.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3. There are many ways to enter, and some can be done more than once. Give yourself lots of chances to win by following along the blog tour and commenting.

Here’s the book’s official blurb:Hell On Wheels cover

Nash is the reliable one in the Holly family, the guy everyone counts on to keep things going. His genius twin brother is off at university, so Nash runs the family’s auto repair business and cares for his partially-paralyzed little sister while his crackpot father invents. His life seems mapped out for the foreseeable future, however much that might chafe.

So when Wolf’s Landing actor Spencer Kepler-Constantine lands in his life, Nash is ready for a diversion. Spencer is in the middle of a very painful, very public divorce and isn’t ready for a relationship—not that Nash wants one. But they both need a friend, especially one with benefits.

As they grow closer, Nash starts to see his family in a whole new light. Do they really need him so badly? Or does he simply need to be needed? Then Spencer’s ex reappears with a grand romantic gesture, and Nash has to figure out what he wants—and how to get it—before Spencer’s gone for good.

– Check out more about Hell On Wheels at Riptide Publishing’s  page.

About the Author

Z. A. Maxfield started writing in 2007 on a dare from her children and never looked back. Pathologically disorganized, and perennially optimistic, she writes as much as she can, reads as much as she dares, and enjoys her time with family and friends. Three things reverberate throughout all her stories: Unconditional love, redemption, and the belief that miracles happen when we least expect them.

If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four can find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up housework.”

Readers can visit ZAM at her website, Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr.

A MelanieM Review: Chestnuts Roasting Anthology (Mischief Corner Anthologies #5) by Mischief Corner Books

Rating: 4.75 (rounded up to 5) stars out of 5 

ChestnutsRoasting10x15Christmas means different things to everyone, but most often it’s all about pulling loved ones close and brightening the gloom. The fire’s crackling. The snow is piling up outside, even if it’s only in your dreams. Time to snuggle up with some cocoa and some stories carefully crafted by the Mischief Corner Crew to warm hearts and cockles.

Mischief Corner Books is comprised of four authors, Toni Griffin, Angel Martinez, Freddy MacKay and Silvia Violet who met on a Tennessee Mountain top and (in their own words) “…and decided since we probably were too easily distracted to rule the world that we’d settle for causing a bit of mayhem instead.

” That’s how Mischief Corner Books was born.

In this holiday anthologies, their four different perspectives has never had a better showcase for their talents.  It’s a heartwarming collection that veers from bear shape shifters to contemporary romance then on to the supernatural and back again.  Chestnuts Roasting  gets the flow and placing of the selections just right, an issue I find most anthologies have a hard time perfecting.  This is such a strong collection that while I had my absolute favorites, I loved them all.  So will you.

The first story from Toni Griffin, Wreath of Fire: Smokey Mountains Bears 2, concerns a young bear shifter still trying to recover from years of family abuse, a forlorn young man, one in need of hope and love.  The second story is A Christmas Cactus for the General By Angel Martinez.  Talk about totally unexpected and wonderfully quirky.  It’s told from an alien’s pov, and  yes, its a wonderful holiday story.  Next up?  Holly Jolly By Silvia Violet, that’s the “bah humbug” tale of the bunch.  You know you need one and Silvia Violet delivers her Scrooge into the holiday spirit via romance and coffee!  Oh, but its that last story that  will bring out the tears, the hankies, and the scores of music you want to listen to at this time of year. Chestnuts Roasting ends as it should, on reflections of love and family, of life and death,  and perhaps something more. The last and utterly memorable tale is Snow on Spirit Bridge By Freddy MacKay.  Never has blowing my nose and weeping away made me so happy.

Here are the stories in the order they appear in the book with a few comments by me.

1.  Wreath of Fire: Smokey Mountains Bears 2 – Toni Griffin
Michael’s trying to start a new life away from his abusive father, but he’s drifting and not sure what he wants. When he accidentally starts a kitchen fire, the hot new fireman who comes to the rescue is not only another bear shifter. He’s Michael’s mate. Michael desperately needs to get his act together and figure out what he wants if he has any hope of claiming the bear fated to be his.

A heartwarming story that captures the pain of a young man feeling like an outsider at the holidays.  Everything he attempts goes off course until Michael is almost ready to give up.  Then another outsider arrives to how him the way home.  I loved Griffin’s group or sleuth of bear shifters, such a welcoming family.  It makes Michael’s background and family history even more poignant.  A lovely introduction to this marvelous anthology.

You can read this story as a stand alone, or if you would like, you can read about the first Smokey Mountains Bears in A Bear in the Woods

2. A Christmas Cactus for the General – Angel Martinez
Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can’t imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought.

Angel Martinez is a favorite author of mine.  Her ability to weave mythology and folklore into her contemporary stories is beyond amazing.  Here Angel Martinez explores the idea of humans and American culture as seen through the eyes of an exiled alien.  The character of Teer is a wonder.  He never thinks or reacts like a human being at any point in the story, his alien persective is kept intact as he tries to understand and adapt to his strange new world that is his home.  But if Teer is a true alien, than the man that falls into a friendship with Teer and then love, Bruce, is almost as much or more of an outsider from the people in the town they both live in.  Snarly, rude, perpetually brusk and alone, Bruce also stays on the outskirts of community.  His alienation is by choice while Teer’s was forced.  This story is full of humor, pathos, and romance of an unlikely yet wondrous sort.  And yes, this is one of my favorites although I loved them all.

3. Holly Jolly – Silvia Violet
I’m not gay. I just notice men sometimes. Everybody does, right? I notice Dane a lot, like every time I’m near him, but just because I think he’s an attractive man that doesn’t mean I like him, does it?

Holly Jolly is a cute, contemporary holiday romp with a heart.  Every holiday collection needs a “Scrooge” type character and Tom the narrator fills the bill nicely.  Only later do we find out the source of Tom’s harsh outlook and then everything about Tom snaps into place and he becomes more than just a formulaic persona.  In fact, Tom’s past and actions make him not only admirable but courageous.  Totally worthy of a hunky Dane who works at The Coffee Bean.  I really enjoyed the layers the author added to Tom, Dane, and even Tom’s best friend Shelley.

And the idea of putting Holly Jolly in between the alien Teer of  A Christmas Cactus for the General and the wildly enchanting and mystical characters of Snow on Spirit Bridge By Freddy MacKay gives the reader a little break from the angst and pain that both stories contain.  Great job of placement all the way through this collection.

4.  Snow on Spirit Bridge By Freddy MacKay

Alone in Japan, Finni is struggling against the constant distrust, avoidance, and xenophobia he experiences every day. He misses home. He misses his family. Nightmares come all too frequently because of the stress, and well, Christmas is just not Christmas in Japan. Not how he understands it.
Distressed by how miserable Finni is, his roommate, Mamoru, offers to be Finni’s family for Christmas. Little does he know how much one agreement would change everything between them, because both of them kept secrets neither ever dreamed were true.

Oh, this story.  I can’t even begin to describe all the astonishing facets and elements that appear in Snow On Spirit Bridge.  On first glance what appears to be a contemporary holiday story of a lonely, homesick exchange student, Finni, one who happens to be huge, blond haired and blue-eyed, traipsing through the streets of Japan on the eve of Christmas.  Again we have an outsider’s perspective on a different culture. This time the setting is Japan with the Japanese peoples wariness and sometimes dislike of outsiders playing a huge part in Finni’s sense of isolation.  But as the snow swirls around him and his sadness deepens something magical and unbelievable happens.  MacKay combines several mythologies into her story and it works perfectly.  Snow on Spirit Bridge addresses great pain and loss for several characters.  And the last chapter will leave you smiling even as you weep your way through a box of tissues.  A marvel of love, holiday cheer and the vastness of possibilities that just might exist make this my favorite story of the collection just as I expect it will end up as yours.  This should have been the last story in any collection.  And as the last story here, it works to make this one of the more memorable anthologies of this or any other season of the year.

I adored Chestnuts Roasting and absolutely recommend it for your Holiday reading pleasure.  But the authors and their stories are so good, it makes wonderful reading at any time of the year.  Pick it up today!

Cover artist Catherine Dair cover is lovely and brings the warmth of the holidays in its design.

Sales Links:   Mischief Corner Books     All Romance (ARe)          amazon                buy it here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: November 27th 2014 by Smashwords Edition
ISBN139781311874092